B.C. health minister forced to address years-old data breach after investigation

After a heated exchange in the legislature Tuesday, the minister of health addressed a data breach that targeted thousands of B.C. health-care workers.

Last year, an RCMP investigation revealed a possible privacy breach for thousands of employees who worked or work at a health authority in British Columbia’s Interior.

Interior Health says police contacted them in January 2024 about finding a document during its investigation that contained everything from social insurance numbers to home addresses for about 20,000 people.

The information covered people who worked at Interior Health from 2003 to 2009, although the authority says no patient information was in the document.

During question period Tuesday, the MLA for Abbotsford South, Bruce Banman, demanded Health Minister Osborne answer for a new investigative report by The Fifth Estate that found some employees had their information used for fraudulent loans and CRA refunds following the breach.

Osborne said Interior Health is supporting the RCMP’s investigation.

“They’ve also hired external security experts to conduct dark web searches and ensure that personal information — and they have confirmed that personal information is not on the dark web,” Osborne explained.

“They’re now taking the steps to notify all current and former employees and, out of an abundance of caution, helping to provide credit monitoring to help people protect their personal information. They notified the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of this information incident, and they will continue to keep them updated.”

Interior Health urges anyone who worked for the organization between 2003 and 2009 to reach out to the health authority or the RCMP if they have not already done so.

—With files from The Canadian Press